--- title: Guanacaste Nights -- A Celebration of Costa Rican Cuisine description: The weekend of January 25th, Las Catalinas will be hosting Guanacaste Nights, a celebration of Costa Rican cuisine featuring dishes from six international chefs that are inspired by the region and mad image: https://theblog.lascatalinascr.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/menu-sentido-norte-restaurant-costa-rica-1024x682-600x400-1.jpg --- # Guanacaste Nights -- A Celebration of Costa Rican Cuisine [mailto:?subject=I%20wanted%20you%20to%20see%20this%20site&body=https://theblog.lascatalinascr.com/guanacaste-nights-a-celebration-of-costa-rican-cuisine](mailto:?subject=I%20wanted%20you%20to%20see%20this%20site&body=https://theblog.lascatalinascr.com/guanacaste-nights-a-celebration-of-costa-rican-cuisine) [Book](https://www.lascatalinascr.com/section/booking) ### August 22, 2019 The culinary scene of Las Catalinas is getting quite a makeover over the next few months. Town is welcoming the arrival of Ponciana, the [Santarena Hotel’s](http://santarenahotel.com) restaurant, adding a town bakery, and enjoying the continued growth and evolution of [Sentido Norte](https://www.sentidonorterestaurant.com/), Limonada and the Beach Club, all following the arrival of Copper & Stone at the end of 2018. It’s a excellent wave of additions and improvements to town, and with it comes [Guanacaste Nights.](https://www.lascatalinascr.com/events/guanacaste-nights) A food festival to celebrate all that the region has to offer and look to the culinary future of the area. ## Spotlight on Costa Rican Cuisine Despite occupying only 0.03% of the earth’s surface, [Costa Rica is home to almost 6% of the world’s biodiversity.](http://www.costarica-embassy.org/index.php?q=node/12) With this tremendous biodiversity comes a strong culinary tradition that features diverse, local ingredients and flavors. However, until very recently [Costa Rica lacked an international reputation as a food hub.](https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestravelguide/2013/11/15/a-foodies-guide-to-costa-rica/#6a6903f850de) Sadly, we were often overlooked by the world culinary community. But maybe not for long! This has all started to change in the past 15 years or so. There has been a slow shift of international chefs recognizing the tremendous potential of Costa Rica’s natural world. Because of this, [local chefs returning to the country](https://magazine.luxuryretreats.com/san-jose-costa-ricas-culinary-revolution-new-restaurants/) after honing their trades all across the world, have contributed. Recently, there has been a slow but steady blossoming of Costa Rica’s culinary scene as [restaurateurs embrace the uniqueness of Costa Rican ingredients.](https://table.skift.com/2018/06/12/3-ways-costa-rican-fine-dining-is-getting-more-local/) As a result, things are heating up in the Costa Rican dining scene. ## Homegrown Talent Two such returning Chefs are Las Catalinas’s own [Gilberto Briceño](https://www.linkedin.com/in/gilbrigo/) and [Jose Lopez.](https://www.sentidonorterestaurant.com/chef-jose/) For these titans of the kitchen, the desire to cook with Costa Rica’s ingredients has never been in doubt. ![](https://theblog.lascatalinascr.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Screen-Shot-2019-01-02-at-4_26_17-PM-600x193-1.png?width=600&name=Screen-Shot-2019-01-02-at-4_26_17-PM-600x193-1.png)   At the end of January, Briceño and Lopez will be joining up with internationally renowned chefs [Deuki Hong](https://www.eater.com/2017/5/2/15412492/deuki-hong-chef-sf-nyc-young-guns), [John Mooney](https://nycwff.org/personality/john-mooney/), [Justin Smillie](https://www.pannacooking.com/chefs/justin-smillie/), and [Monica Phillips](https://www.larepublica.net/noticia/cr-me-caramel-la-pasteleria-de-la-felicidad) as they bring the flavors of the region to life in the Guanacaste Nights food festival. Guanacaste Nights is a pair of events. The *Culinary Celebration* at Sentido Norte and the *Fiesta en la Plaza* down in Plaza Lucia -- in which each of the six chefs will put their skills, style, and creativity to the test as they bring to life dishes inspired by the ingredients and traditions of Guanacaste. Expect the unexpected here. These chefs are bringing a fresh new take to Costa Rican cuisine. We’re excited to see what they come up with! Interested in being a part of celebrating Guanacaste’s cuisine? [You can find out more and sign up here](https://news.lascatalinascr.com/guanacaste-nights) ## See related posts ## [Coast Magazine Takes a Look at Ecoluxury in Las Catalinas](https://theblog.lascatalinascr.com/coast-magazine-las-catalinas) [ Coast Magazine’s Jordan Riefe explored Las Catalinas and the nearly 950 acres of natural landscape surrounding town in Guanacaste’s tropical dry forest zone for an article titled “Costa Rica Luxe,” which focused on the many interesting facets of life in and around town. ](https://theblog.lascatalinascr.com/coast-magazine-las-catalinas) [Read more](https://theblog.lascatalinascr.com/coast-magazine-las-catalinas) ## [Rediscovering Costa Rican Fruits, Vegetables and Other Ingredients](https://theblog.lascatalinascr.com/artisanification-of-ingredients) [ Per land area Costa Rica is among the most densely biodiverse regions on earth, which includes a wide variety of native fruits, vegetables, herbs, and plants some of which can be found nowhere else on the planet. Thanks to over 300 microclimates in the country, each part of Costa Rica had trees, ... ](https://theblog.lascatalinascr.com/artisanification-of-ingredients) [Read more](https://theblog.lascatalinascr.com/artisanification-of-ingredients) ## [Las Catalinas at PreCOP25](https://theblog.lascatalinascr.com/las-catalinas-at-precop25) [ Costa Rica hosted PreCOP25, a preparation meeting before the UN’s Framework Convention on Climate Change. This year, a global meeting of stakeholders seeking to combat climate change will take place in Santiago, Chile, and PreCOP25 served as a gathering to workshop ideas, meet, and prepare before ... ](https://theblog.lascatalinascr.com/las-catalinas-at-precop25) [Read more](https://theblog.lascatalinascr.com/las-catalinas-at-precop25) ## [Spending Spring Break Car Free in Las Catalinas](https://theblog.lascatalinascr.com/spring-break-car-free-in-las-catalinas) [ Today, it’s possible to be far more conscious about the environment than ever before. Sustainable energy continues to become more affordable and available. Countries around the world are moving away from single-use plastics like grocery bags, and continue to make strides in supporting conscious ... ](https://theblog.lascatalinascr.com/spring-break-car-free-in-las-catalinas) [Read more](https://theblog.lascatalinascr.com/spring-break-car-free-in-las-catalinas) #### Subscribe to The Blog, The Daily, The Newsletter, and more Additionally you will receive our occasional newsletter. Absolute confidentiality. Never SPAM. 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The culinary scene of Las Catalinas is getting quite a makeover over the next few months. Town is welcoming the arrival of Ponciana, the Santarena Hotel’s restaurant, adding a town bakery, and enjoying the continued growth and evolution of Sentido Norte, Limonada and the Beach Club, all following the arrival of Copper & Stone at the end of 2018.

It’s a excellent wave of additions and improvements to town, and with it comes Guanacaste Nights. A food festival to celebrate all that the region has to offer and look to the culinary future of the area.

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